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Was Yasser Arafat poisoned by radiation? Swiss experts asked to investigate

Swiss radiation experts invited to examine Arafat’s remains http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Swiss+radiation+experts+invited+examine+Arafat+remains/7061676/story.html#ixzz23B4nMoZa Announcement follows disagreement over investigation By Mohammed Daraghmeh, The Associated Press August 9, 2012

Swiss experts have been invited to the West Bank to test Yasser Arafat’s remains for possible poisoning, the chief investigator looking into the 2004 death of the Palestinian leader said Wednesday.

The announcement followed weeks of zigzagging on the autopsy issue by
officials in the Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government that
Arafat established. Their conflicting positions and hesitation
triggered speculation they were trying to quietly kill the
investigation.

Last month, Switzerland’s Institute of Radiation Physics said it had
detected elevated levels of radioactive polo-nium-210 on stains on
Arafat’s clothing, reviving long-standing rumours in the Arab world
that the Palestinian leader was poisoned by Israel, a claim the
Israelis vehemently deny.

However, the lab said the findings were inconclusive and that only
exhuming Arafat’s remains could bring possible clarity. Lab officials
also said polonium decays quickly and that an autopsy would need to be
done within a few months at most. They also said they needed a formal
invitation to proceed with testing.

The Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera first published the findings
of the Swiss lab. The station had approached the lab on behalf of
Arafat’s widow, Suha, who had demanded that her husband’s remains be
examined and provided the lab with his clothing. She also asked the
French government in a lawsuit to investigate her husband’s death. No
decision has been made on the suit.

Arafat died in a French military hospital on Nov. 11, 2004, a month
after falling ill at his headquarters in the West Bank city of
Ramallah, where he spent the last three years of his life under
Israeli siege. French doctors have said he died of a massive stroke
and suffered from a blood condition known as disseminated
intravascular coagulation. The records were inconclusive about what
brought about the condition, which has numerous possible causes.

Tawfik Tirawi, the chief official investigating Arafat’s death said
Wednesday, the Palestinians asked the lab for help

August 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | MIDDLE EAST, secrets,lies and civil liberties